


They Will Stare Unbelieving

by Dreamwind



Series: Unicorn Verse! [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Humor, Animal Transformation, Crack, M/M, Misuse of Mythical Creatures, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Unicorn!Danny Williams, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-15
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-03 16:25:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/383499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamwind/pseuds/Dreamwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In response to a prompt at the <a href="http://h50-bunny.livejournal.com/">h50_bunny</a> on LJ and also from the Poor Unicorn Danny prompt <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/381277">here</a> on AO3. Danny gets cursed b a Water Spirit into being a Unicorn. How is Five-0 and the island of Oahu supposed to survive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At The Last Dusty Fountain

**Author's Note:**

> **Authors Note:** The Story Title and Chapter Titles are based off the song The Last Unicorn by Kenny Loggins. Also, I’m not sure how but what was supposed to be a short amusing fic has turned into something longer and mildly angsty. It may be three to four chapters in length. Also, I am apparently incapable of writing anything that doesn’t have some sort of angst to it. Fortunately most of the angst is contained in the first chapter.

[ ](http://s28.photobucket.com/user/MiyuMoon/media/TWSUB_zpstqkquvf9.jpg.html)

Danny hated Hawaii. If it wasn't the sand getting into everything, it was the pineapple and the spam that seemed to be in almost all of the food, and if it wasn't that it was all the asshats that called him a haole on a daily basis. So yes, Danny hated Hawaii. 

Today, though, Hawaii taught him a new reason to hate it here. 

The day had started like most of his days. His partner, Lt Commander Steve McGarrett, woke him by pounding on his door as he picked the lock and let himself in. Now most days it wasn't a problem because Danny was up and getting ready for work. But today Danny had a blessed day off and he planed to sleep in and relax. He had not intended to see Steve until tomorrow at the earliest, but like many things in his life, today was not going to go the way he wanted.

Steve was obviously excited about something if Goofy Hamster Face #4 was any indication. Danny hated that face. The last time Steve had broke in while wearing that face Danny had been roped into hiking up a mountain, where Steve stumbled upon a dead body and broke his arm. Not the best day off for either of them.

Groaning in despair for his lost day off, Danny rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. He knew it was a futile effort to ignore Steve but he really wanted to sleep for another couple hours, at least until the sun was all the way up. 

Groaning again Danny kicked his foot at Steve as he tried to grab it to tug Danny off the bed. A loud curse behind him and a throbbing in his foot let him know he had gotten a lucky shot in and connected with Steve. Danny was guessing Steve's family jewels were safe based on the fact the cursing wasn't worse and because he was still breathing on his own.

"Go 'way an let me sleep," Danny growled through his pillow.

"Fuck, Danny! That hurt." Steve rubbed the spot at the front of his abdomen that Danny had connected with. "Get up, there are things to do."

"It's my day off, Steven." Danny rolled onto his back, sheets twisting low over his hips, revealing more of the golden treasure trail. "I don't have to do anything."

"You have to come with me," cajoled Steve.

"I don't wanna."

Steve sighed and yanked the blankets off the bed, freezing, a blush rising up through his tan as he realized Danny had been sleeping naked. Clearing his throat, Steve grabbed Danny's arm and yanked him upright and off the bed.

"It'll be good exercise and fun."

"The last time you said that we found a dead body and you had to be airlifted off the damn mountain." Danny crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his partner. He wouldn't admit it but he loved seeing Steve squirm.

"God, Danny, do you have to argue about everything? Just admit that prior to finding the dead guy, you were having a good time!"

Danny smirked. "I admit nothing."

Steve threw up his hands and stomped off to the closet, grabbing a pair of blue-jeans and tossing them at Danny. A blue tee-shirt quickly followed, and laughing silently, Danny got dressed, watching the way his partner tried not to look at him below his navel.

He supposed it wouldn't hurt too much to go tramp through the woods with Steve since he was now completely awake. He just wished Steve would have asked yesterday, or called this morning before storming his crappy apartment. "Alright, SuperSEAL, I'm dressed. What now?"

Steve turned back to look at him, taking a long look up and down Danny before smiling widely. "Now we have some fun."

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Four Hours Later, Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

At first, despite how much he loved cities, Danny was charmed by Waihee Valley. There was none of the noise and mess caused by large numbers of tourists tramping about. It was quiet, except for the songs of birds flying about, or the sound of water from the nearby streams and waterfalls. Walking through the park, it felt like the two of them were the last people alive. It felt like the world was empty of all other people, or perhaps that they had stepped back in time to a place where man didn’t exist. It felt magical and peaceful in a way Danny had never experienced back in Jersey. He had just stopped on the trail, looking around him and breathing it all in. Maybe he had read too many fantasy stories to Grace at bedtime, but he felt like he had stepped into her favorite story, The Last Unicorn, and that at any moment the Unicorn and her wizard companion would walk out of the forest. Or maybe the singing butterfly from the beginning of the story would fly by, singing rhymes to him. Catching back up with Steve, who was still talking about how Waihee Valley was the last ahupua’a, whatever that was, and that the land had belonged to Hawaiian priests from the 11th century until the 1800s when it was turned over to farmers.

He had missed most of what Steve was telling him, and honestly he didn’t much care what Steve said because the sound of his voice was dancing along Danny’s nerve endings, making him feel even more pleasant than he already was. For the first time since his ex-wife forced him across the country and over the ocean to this tiny little chain of islands, Danny felt truly happy, truly peaceful. He felt, dare he think it, like he was Home.

“Look at this, Danny,” Steve’s voice pulled Danny from his thoughts.

“It’s lovely, Steve.” Danny looked from the waterfall to his smiling partner. “Is this the reason I just spent my day off hiking through this bug infested forest?”

Steve rolled his eyes and shot Danny a sly little grin. “Maybe. It’s a pretty romantic spot. Not a lot of people around either.”

“So?”

“So, it hot out and you look mighty sweaty in your shirt.” Steve smile grew wider as he reached, gently stroking his hand down Danny’s chest, thumbs tracing over his nipples. “Maybe you’d like to take a dip? Cool off a little?”

Danny licked his lips and tried to ignore the way his groin twitched. “Why, Steven, are asking me to go skinny dipping with you?”

“Maybe I am.” Steve stepped back and traced his fingers over the hem of his shirt. 

Danny rolled his eyes and cocked his eyebrow at Steve. “Isn’t this against park rules or something, babe?”

“I didn’t see a sign. Besides, it’s hot out. Just look at the water. Doesn’t it look just perfect for a little bit of a cool down.”

Danny licked his lips and looked down at Steve’s hands, which were slowly unbuttoning his pants. Danny swallowed convulsively as he watched those fingers dip down, stroking over the bulge hidden behind the press of the zipper. His body started to heat up and Danny found he couldn’t remember why not skinny dipping in a public location in the middle of the day was a bad idea.

“Yeah.” Tearing his eyes away from the tempting strip of golden flesh Steve was teasing him with. “Okay.” 

“Yeah,” asked Steve, his expression switching into Excited Puppy Face.

“Yeah.” Danny smiled and tugged his own shirt off, smirking at the look of lust that passed over Steve’s face at the sight. “Race you?”

Steve blinked and then grinned as well, yanking his shirt over his head. “You’re on!”

Danny laughed but toed off his shoes and tugged at his zipper as he watched Steve trying to pull his cargo pants off over his boots. The two were neck and neck as they both managed to get their pants off. Smirking at the look on Steve’s face, Danny waved his hands in Steve face before pointing at his feet. Another wide smirk stretched across Danny’s face as Steve groaned, realizing that he still had his shoes on.

Pushing against Steve’s chest, Danny darted towards the pool of water at the base of the waterfall. Still smiling he waded in until the water reached his chest. The cool water was so refreshing against his overheated skin. Closing his eyes, Danny leaned back into the water, letting it hold him up as he listened to the sound of Steve cursing from the shore as he struggled with the knot of shoelaces. “Having trouble, Aquaman,” teased Danny.

“Shut up, Danno” grunted Steve as he finally pulled on of the boots off.

Danny opened his mouth to make another witty retort when he felt something tugging at his ankles. Gasping, Danny struggled as he was suddenly pulled under the water. Danny kicked out at whatever was holding him and managed to push his head above the surface long enough to take a gulp of air and catch sight of Steve fearfully tugging off his second boot, before he was yanked back under the water. 

He couldn’t see anything in the water around him but he could feel hands pulling playfully on his ankles, pulling him deeper into the water. His lungs were burning as he desperately tried to hold his breath long enough for Steve to get to him. 

For a moment he thought that he saw Steve swimming towards him, but whatever had a hold of him was strong, keeping him always just out of reach. The burning in his lungs got worse and suddenly all the air was rushing out of his lungs and darkness was creeping in.

\- - - H50 - - -

Steve couldn’t understand what had happened. One minute he was playfully racing Danny to see who could strip down first and the next thing he knew Danny was disappearing into the water in front of him. He had swam as fast and as hard as he could to reach Danny and he was sure that a for a moment his fingers had brushed Danny’s before he just vanished into the depths. He had gone back up for air and dove right back down, but no matter how hard he looked he just couldn’t find Danny. Finally, after he didn’t know how long, he had gone back to shore, to get his cell phone and call Chin. Danny had been under too long for there to be any hope he was still alive.

And so here he sat just watching the water hoping for any sign of Danny as some rescue divers went back in to carefully search through the spring. It wasn’t that big and it shouldn’t have been as deep as it seemed to have been when he had almost caught Danny’s hand. Chin was at his side trying to talk to him, but Steve couldn’t focus on anything but the water where Danny had been. He had failed to protect his partner. He had let his desire spur him into teasing Danny until he went into the water, even when he knew Danny didn’t like the water. That he probably couldn’t swim. Guilt had formed a vise around his heart.

What was he going to tell Grace? 

Steve felt tears pooling in the corners of his eyes and took a long trembling breath, forcing the tears away. He had to be strong. He was letting his feelings for Danny keep him from helping Chin and the others find his body and he couldn’t let that happen. If he had gotten Danny killed the very least he could do would be to find the body so that his family could burry him.

Shrugging Chin’s hand off his shoulder, Steve stood up and moved to go back into the water.

“Steve!” Chin grabbed Steve’s arm, pulling him away from the water. “What are you doing, brah?”

“I have to find Danny.” Steve turned to look at Chin, a wild, desperate look in his eyes.

“Steve,” started Chin a strange look in his eyes, “Are you sure Danny was with you today? It’s pretty hot out, brah, you could have hallucinated the whole thing.”

Steve glared at Chin, tugging his arm out of Chin’s grasp again. “I didn’t hallucinate anything. Danny was here with me and something pulled him under!”

“Steve, there’s no body in the water and unless the mo’o wahine took a liking to Danny and pulled him under into her world, then he must not have been here. Brah, his cloths aren’t even here and you said that he took ‘em off before going in.”

“But,” Steve stopped talking, the memory of Danny vanishing into the dark water haunting him. “It seemed so real. I’m sure he was here with me…”

\- - - H50 - - -

**Late Evening, Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

Danny hated Hawaii. He really, REALLY, hated Hawaii. He didn’t know what God he had pissed off in a past life, or this one, to be pulled underwater and nearly drown. He didn’t know how Steve had found him in the water when it was so dark, but he was sure the SEAL must have found him and pulled him to shore, otherwise he would be a bloated corpse floating in the otherwise pretty looking scenery. Instead he was laying there in the grass, soaking wet and shivering from the cool night breeze.

Groaning, he tried to roll onto his back only realize his body felt too heavy and awkward. Cursing McGarrett for not being here when Danny needed him, and really where had the big goof gotten off too, Danny tried again to roll onto his back only to again feel that strange distortion in his limbs. Cursing out loud, Danny froze at the sound of his voice. 

Yeah, that had been a strange noise. 

Trying again Danny called out Steve’s name only for a loud whinny like sound to fill the clearing. “What the fuck,” Danny cried out, confused.

Twisting his body onto his belly, legs neatly folding beneath him, Danny swung his head about. Yeah, this really had to be a dream, he was sure of it. While he was certainly pale in comparison to most everyone else on the forsaken island, he had never been pure white and slightly sparkly before. Oh God. Danny’s eyes widened as he looked over the long, graceful length of his body and convulsively swallowed as the long, almost lion like tail behind him flickered about nervously. He SPARKLED! 

Jerking clumsily to his feet, Danny tried to walk back to the water to look at his reflection. It was harder than he thought, not that he was really thinking about it much just then. If he could have seen himself he would have been reminded of the awkward way baby horses and deer stumbled about in the nature documentaries Grace watched on Animal Planet and Nat Geo Wild. But, he couldn’t see himself, so he was unaware of just how awkward he looked, all long graceful limbs, silver cloven hooves, long flowing white blond mane, long neck and a beautiful head that seemed to look like an Arabian’s but with the nose of a deer and the beard of a goat. He couldn’t see himself just yet, but as he finally came to a stumbling halt at the edge of the water his large blue eyes locked on the water, waiting for it to still long enough to catch his own reflection.

When it finally did, when he could finally see himself he nearly fainted. There looking up at him from the mirror like reflection of the water was a unicorn.

Feeling his legs buckle, Danny dropped to the ground, his whole attention locked on the reflection staring at him from the water. He was supposed to be a grown ass man, but here he was looking at his daughter’s fantasy dream.

“You are very beautiful,” came a gentle, flowing voice.

Startled Danny looked up into the lake where a figure was lounging in the water watching him. She looked like a very beautiful nude girl at first but Danny blinked and watched as his skin flowing like the water around her, as if she was made of the waters of the spring.

“Who are you?”

Her laughter curled over him and through him. “I am the mo’o wahine of this water, pretty little haole.”

“The what now,” Danny asked, confused.

She smiled at him and moved closer, reaching one watery hand out to caress his nose. “Consider this a gift, little haole. Be thankful for it and that I have given you a form you are familiar with.” Smiling a strangely knowing grin her body collapsed into water droplets.

Danny was left laying on the banks, staring at where she had been and wondering again what he was doing to deserve this and how he could blame this on Steve, because if there was one thing he had learned since arriving in Hawaii it was that everything came back to Steve. Thinking about Steve, Danny realized he should try to find him. If Steve wasn’t here then he must not have pulled Danny from the spring and if that was the case his partner was probably having a little guilt-ridden breakdown. 

Glaring back at the waterfall and the spring it poured into Danny stood back up, his legs not as shaky as before. Snorting loudly he shook his head and tried to pretend that this was all a dream. Water nymphs and animal transformations. Unicorns. It was all a mess. Who ever heard of a spirit-blessed spring? Or a spring that "gifted" chosen people with a new form? Really? They didn't have anything this fucked up back in Weehawken.

Ignoring the birds that seemed pleased to fly above him singing like they were in a Disney movie, he stomped through the forest, complaining to himself as he walked towards the park entrance and the road that would lead back to Steve’s house. He really hoped that no one else saw him looking like this.


	2. A Pale Moon is Rising

At first he walks, because as much as he’d like to claim otherwise, he still gets a bit lost on all the back roads that crisscross the island. Once he gets to the main road he’s sure that he’ll be able to get to Steve’s house. It can’t be too far away, this is an island after all. He comforts himself with that thought and the thought that since it’s night and he’s not in the city he’ll likely be able to get there without being spotted by anyone else. So an hour later when he finally finds the road that will go back onto the main road, a road not made of compacted dirt, Danny decides to try and run. It can’t be that hard. He figured out how to walk on four legs fairly quickly.

He stumbles and nearly falls twice but after nearly face-planting into a car abandoned on the side of the road he finally manages to figure out how to run properly. Once he was running he was surprised by how fast he could go and for how long. Certainly farther than he could run as a human and much quicker as well. If he wasn’t currently a fuckin’ unicorn this would actually be pretty cool. 

Danny smiled, or smiled as much as his new face could as he lifted his head into the breeze, his long slightly curling mane streaming behind him. The breeze felt nice but he was a little weirded out that the birds, which he thought were supposed to be diurnal, were still following him singing their little bird songs. Looking up and yelling at them did nothing, in fact every time he stopped running one of the blasted things perched on him! He hoped to God the birds were smart enough not to poop on him because he didn’t know what kind of freaky magic unicorns had, but he was willing to take every last flying rat out if he had too, even if they sang beautifully. 

A moment later Danny felt a weight settle itself on his head, behind his horn. Letting out a gusty breath he realized that he had become so enraptured by their song that he had stopped running. Again. It seemed harder to focus sometimes, especially when the birds were singing or he got closer to houses. He could feel all the people in the houses and they made his skin crawl a bit. He wanted to turn around and run back into the forest. To play amongst the trees and birds.

The sound of someone crying drew Danny back to the road and the human world. It was a soft voice that reminded him a bit of Grace. Young and vibrant but this voice was heavy with fear. Curious despite wanting to hide away so that people couldn’t see him, Danny trotted closer to the small house a block down the street on the corner by the edge of the forest road. Carefully he edged closer, staying in the shadows. A heartbeat later the front door of the house was thrown open, filling the street in light. Danny felt something tingle through his body as he caught sight of the man carrying a struggle child out of the house to a dark, beat up car parked at the curb. The child was young, maybe all of seven years, and struggling like crazy. The child tried to scream out what Danny was sure would have been “Mommy” if the man hadn’t have backhanded the kid. 

Seeing red, Danny shook his head once before lowering it, his long spiraling horn pointed straight at the would be kidnapped. Letting out a battle cry, Danny rose up on his hind legs before dropping back down and charging at the startled man. The man dropped the kid and reached for a dark shape at his belt, pulling out what Danny was sure was a gun. 

The man got one shot off, missing Danny by half a foot, before Danny jabbed his horn into the man shoulder. Jerking his head back Danny reared up again, swiping his front hooves out at the screaming, terrified man as he ran towards his car. Dropping back to his feet Danny watched the man flee before turning to look at the little girl sitting in the grass, crying. 

Leaning down, Danny pushed his horn through the grass, trying to wipe the blood off before he moved closer to the child. He could feel that tingling again but it was fading, replaced by a feeling of nearly overpowering peace as he moved to lay down by the child, who was now watching him from behind tear reddened eyes. Whickering softly Danny leaned forward to rest his head in the little girls lap. 

Tentatively the girl reached one hand towards him, setting it gently in his mane. She was still scared, but Danny could tell she was calming down as she stroked his hair. He let himself relax under her little hands. A few minutes resting here would be all right. It couldn’t hurt.

“Unicorn,” her voice was filled with amazement. Her dark brown eyes met his and he was surprised that he could see his reflection in them, white and glowing like the moon in the darkness of the night. “Unicorn, Mommy is hurt.”

Lifting his head from her lap, Danny looked at her again, taking in the blood spatter on her pink pajamas. There was a large red splotch over the head of what looked like the cartoon baby turtle from Finding Nemo. Letting out a soft breath he nuzzled her cheek before pushing up onto his feet and turning towards the still open front door. He looked at her again as he felt her trembling hand reach up to rest against his side. She was scared but he could tell she was also feeling safer, his presence calming her of her fears. Looking again at the house he knew he had to go inside, despite all his instincts telling him not too. If her Mother was in there and injured as the blood the child was covered in suggested then he needed to check on her. Maybe he could do something. He was sure he remembered Grace’s story books saying a unicorn could heal the sick and injured. Right? God he hoped so.

His hooves made soft clicking noises, almost bell like, as they touched down on the hardwood floors. It was a small house, the front door opening onto the living room and off to the side he could see the dinning room. There on the rug between the dinning room and the living room was the body of the child’s Mother. He feared that he was too late at first, but as he got closer he realized he could hear the gurgle of her breath as she tried to breathe past the blood that was filling her lungs. The carpet, something old and worn by decades of people walking over it, was a ruin of red.

Pushing the child behind a couch near the door, Danny walked closer to the injured and dying woman. He had to be able to do something. What good was the mo’o wahine’s gift if he couldn’t save this little girl’s Mother? 

The woman’s eyes widened as he stopped over her. He could see her trying to say something. She wasn’t scared of him, of that he was sure, although he didn’t know how he knew it. He knew she was scared for her daughter, for what would happen to the little girl when she died. He leaned down, whickering softly and rested his horn against the hole in her chest and just kept praying that he could do this. He could save her. He prayed to anyone that could hear that he could heal her. He could feel the goodness inside her calling out to him. It wasn’t the same as the innocence of the child, but he could tell this was a good woman. A good Mother. She didn’t deserve to have her ex-husband break in and try to kill her as he kidnapped their daughter. She had so many plans, so many dreams of her life with her little girl. With, Manaoio. Faith.

Feeling tears gliding down his cheeks, Danny opened his eyes again, not sure when they had closed. The woman was still looking at him, but with awe now instead of resignation and fear. Blinking Danny glanced down at her chest, nearly collapsing with relief as he watched her flesh inside the wound started to mend the worst of the damage. Although the worst damage was healing, the gaping hole in her chest was still there. He wanted to heal it but he felt so tired and something was telling him he needed to get up and hide. 

The woman said something, Danny didn’t understand in Pigdon, but Danny could understand the tone. It was a thank you. Nodding he looked up at the little girl who had edged closer as he healed her Mother. She had a wide smile on her face even though she was still crying. If they were lucky the Mother would live long enough for an EMT to get there and take her to the emergency room.

Shaking his head again Danny moved to leave as he heard the sound of sirens off in the distance and getting closer. He couldn’t be found here. The Mother and Manaoio would be fine. Danny could feel it in his bones, in his soul. 

Darting out of the house, Danny ran back towards the edges of the forest, his heart pounding with worry for the girl, her Mother, and his own safety. Shaking, he edged into the forest, looking out from behind the trees as the Police and an ambulance pulled up by the house. The cops were quick to jump out and survey the scene, looking for anyone with a gun. Obviously one of the neighbors had heard the gunshot and Danny found himself grateful they were smart enough to stay in the safety of their homes and call the Police. The neighbor’s quick thinking may have saved the woman even though Danny himself had started to heal what he could. He had given her enough time to get to a surgeon and he was glad.

He was ready to turn away and disappear into the forest again when he saw the little girl and her Mother being led out of the house. The little girl was clutching the hand of one of the policemen. He smiled to himself and turned to leave, only to freeze as he felt eyes on him. Looking over his shoulders his eyes met that of the little girls. He watched her eyes widen again as she saw him, and only the policeman lifting her up to put her in the ambulance with her Mother broke the connection between their gazes.

Pleased that she was safe he turned back into the forest, and headed back towards the Waihee Vally, all thoughts of find Steve lost to the call of the wood and the wilds of nature.

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**The Next Morning, Five-0 HQ, Oahu**

Steve was exhausted and nervous. Twitchy as a squirrel as Danny would say. He had no idea where Danny was and he didn’t have time to find out. The Governor had called them very early this morning about a one of her staff being shot in her own home. HPD had already brought the woman to the ER and her daughter was being watched under guard after the girl let slip that her Daddy had tried to take her away and shot her Mother when she protested. Steve hated cases with kids. He hated how it made him remember the day the HPD officer came to his house to tell him about his Mother. He hated that it made him think about Grace and what could happen to Danny. And that thought led him back to Danny’s disappearance. 

He wanted to know where Danny was. He wasn’t at his apartment, which looked just the same as it had when Steve picked him up to go hiking, so it couldn’t have been a dream. And yet the park rangers and HPD divers had searched the small pool of water and found no trace of his body. And just like Chin had said, all of Danny’s cloths had vanished from where they had been dropped in the grass. No body. No sign he was even there with Steve. No sign of him at the apartment. Where could Danny have gone and was the whole thing just a horrible dream caused by heatstroke? Steve needed to know, but he would have to wait until they wrapped up this case. 

Rubbing his palms over his face Steve leaned back in his chair and looked out into the bullpen where Chin and Kono were hard at work, going over all the information the little girl and her Mother had given them. Steve had been horrified that the little girl had watched her Father shoot her Mother in the chest, but the idea that a pretty sparkly unicorn had saved her and healed her Mommy, just made Steve smile. The woman, still drugged up from the surgery had also said that a white horse with a horn had walked into the house and healed her, only to vanish at the first sound of sirens. Steve didn’t know if it was just a hallucination or if the Mother had told the girl a story to try and keep her calm as the Police arrived. Either way the woman was lucky to be a live and the little girl was safe. 

Still, they had to find her Father who had started the whole mess. The little girl had insisted that the “pretty unicorn” had stabbed him in the shoulder to save her, so, despite none of them believing a unicorn was actually there, they had put out an APB for the husband and sent his picture to local hospitals. They hadn’t heard anything yet and Steve doubted they would hear anything from the hospitals. If the man was stabbed, he was either dead somewhere now, or had found a doctor willing not to ask any questions. Chin likely had a bolo out on the suspects car and was already trying to find the nearest street camera to see where he could have escaped to. Obviously it had been one of the roads the police hadn’t been on, but the house had been at a corner that had two other roads leading away and both of those roads split off as well.

“Hey, Boss man,” Kono said, leaning in through the doorway. “HPD just located the husbands car.”

“Where was he?”

“Some local doc who had his license pulled last year and is apparently working on anyone with a bit of spare change.”

Steve shook his head, but stood up anyway. “Alright, I want to talk to this guy.”

“HPD said they are on the way to the hospital. Apparently the guy has a nasty stab wound in his shoulder that the doc he went to was stitching up.”

“Unicorn shaped,” Steve asked with a smirk.

Smiling Kono moved out of the doorway so that he could exit his office. “Maybe.”

“Well then, we best interview the suspect. We wouldn’t want a vengeful mythical horse out playing vigilante.”

Chin snorted from where he was hovering over his beloved computer table. Kono smiled brightly at him, and Steve knew it was because they needed to feel lighter just as badly as he did. Having Danny missing was hard on them too. He was Ohana after all.

“Okay, Kono, you’re with me. Chin, see what the CSI have found out so far.”

Chin nodded, “Got it.”

Steve turned away and headed out towards his truck, Kono hot on his heels. He missed seeing the silver shimmer of the Camero parked in its usual spot out front. It wasn’t anything big, he had driven his own car for work before, but the parking lot just seemed so much emptier without that sporty little car.

Kono nudged him with her shoulder, looking up at him with a determined look that Steve understood. Once they had finished this up they were going to find Danny, even if they had to walk the entire length of the island by foot. 

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**A Couple Days Later, Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

Danny wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had saved the little girl and her Mother. The days in the forest seemed to merge together as he forgot himself. The birds followed him everywhere as long as they were awake and he had even seen some of the wild boars at the edges of the bushes watching him as he tried to locate the sweet grass to nibble on. For days he had forgot himself, lost in the call of the forest around him. A part of him knew that he wasn’t supposed to be here. He was needed elsewhere. By someone…someones. He just couldn’t remember who or why. 

Thirsty suddenly, Danny strolled through the brush alongside the path the few humans that came to the forest used. The spring with the mo’o wahine was nearby and he could catch a drink there. He just had to try and not catch her attention again, or else he would be stuck listening to her try to talk him back into the water to “play.” He didn’t particularly like it when she teased him. It didn’t feel right. It felt like someone else should be flirting with him. Someone…male?

Danny froze at the edge of the trees. There was a human here. Looking through the trees Danny spotted the human male sitting at the edge of the water, staring into its depths with an almost lost look. Danny could feel the sadness and loneliness radiating from the man. He wanted to get closer to the man, to comfort him, but humans were dangerous. He didn’t feel like the man who had hurt the girl child the other night, but he didn’t feel innocent and pure either. This man felt like a stallion. A male who had fought off his rivals and won his own herd. A protector. Yes. This man felt like a protector. One who had lost part of his herd.

Blinking Danny realized he had seen this man before. This was the same man who had been here twice before since the mo’o wahine had released Danny from her water. This was the sad man who was always looking for a lost member of his herd.

Feeling for the man, Danny stepped out of the brush, silently approaching the man. The man was still. If Danny couldn’t sense his heart beating he might think the man was dead or a spirit. He had seen them before, the ghosts that walked during the night. They ignored him and he had since decided to ignore them. This man was not like them. Moving in closer Danny leaned forward until his nose was almost touching the back of the man’s neck. Letting out a deep huff of breath against the man’s neck, Danny smirked to himself. 

The man startled and jumped away from him, nearly tripping into the spring. As it was he was sitting on his rump at the edge of the water, one hand in the water and the other holding a metal object at him. A gun? He remembered that item. The weapon of a hunter and a protector. He had had one once?

Danny cocked his head, blinking large blue eyes at the man.

“Holy sh-,” the man’s voice trailed off, the hand holding the gun dropping to his side as he looked at the horn on Danny’s head.

Snorting, Danny took a step forward, freezing when the man pointed the gun at him again. Stupid human, he thought, didn’t he know he was safe in the presence of a unicorn? 

The man licked his lips, his gaze dropping from Danny’s rather impressive silver and pearl horn down to his eyes. Their eyes met and both froze, something passing between them. Danny felt his heart stutter as he recognized those eyes. Steve’s eyes. The eyes of his herdmate.

Letting out a joyful noise Danny pranced around Steve, nuzzling the startled human at every opportunity. The man, Steve, seemed to have calmed down although his eyes were still quite wide. For some reason Danny found that highly amusing. Letting out another pleased whicker, Danny leaned down and brushed his horn against the side of his human’s face.

“Danny,” the man whispered the word full of amazement and relief.

Pleased again that his human remembered him, Danny nudged him again, nearly knocking the man over. He could feel his tail flicking about behind him and his skin trembling with excitement. His whole body felt his excitement and his Steve’s excitement at the reunion.

“Danny,” Steve smiled and reached up to stroke the soft flesh of Danny’s nose. “Chin and Kono are never going to believe this.”


	3. In The Shadow Of The Forest

**Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

Getting a unicorn, even if it might be Danny, into the back end of his truck turned out to be harder than Steve had thought. First off the truck was not designed to hold a live horse-like creature. Secondly, he quickly realized that unicorns do not like man made machines. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, you could not force a unicorn to do anything it didn’t want to. Not if you want to remain unharmed. So Steve had been forced to try and bribe Unicorn Danny into the back of the truck with some of the granola he had brought with him. 

Danny had not looked impressed.

With plan B failing, Steve had been forced to defer to plan C. Calling Chin and Kono. He wasn’t stupid enough to say that he had found a unicorn over the phone. The cousin would have laughed at him and asked him how drunk he was before hanging up. No, he had tried to go the smart rout and told them he located Danny and the horse that the witnesses had spotted the night of attack on the woman and her child. Kono had agreed to go find a horse trailer while Chin grabbed his first aid kit and came up to Waihee Valley to meet him.

They had both thought about calling the SPCA to take the horse but Steve had nearly panicked when they mentioned it. So both had backed off and decided between them that they would just see what they could do about the animal in the morning. For now, it was obvious to both of them that Steve was too high strung about finding Danny to risk going against his orders. 

Steve had not been idle while he was waiting on the two cousins to get to where he was waiting. He had been busy trying to fend off Danny, who seemed to have become bored hanging about by the truck and had started to eagerly sniff at Steve. In places Steve would really not have an animal that large shoving its face. Don’t get him wrong, Steve was very glad to see Danny again, even if he wasn’t sure how he knew the animal was Danny. It was just that Danny was acting a little weird. Every time Steve turned around Danny was shoving his nose against Steve’s butt or crotch, sniffing him! And when Steve wasn’t paying enough attention he would suddenly find himself being carefully herded away from the truck and back into the forest, like he was now.

Steve tried to sneak around Danny as he heard the sound of Chin’s motorcycle coming up the road. Danny wasn’t having it though. He pushed Steve harder and swung his body between Steve and the road that Chin was on.

“Calm down, Danno. Its just Chin.” Steve tried to dodge again only to find himself knocked forward onto his hands and knees. There was another nudge as Danny pressed his nose against Steve butt again, but Steve let out a sigh of relief as the sound of the motorcycle got closer. Steve could just see it coming into the lot now. A loud snort and the soft chime of hooves by his ears drew his gaze away from the motorcycle. Glancing over his shoulder Steve was surprised to be looking straight into the unicorns groin. Blushing Steve looked away and saw Chin standing by his bike, helmet in hand and a very shocked expression on his face. Yeah, this really wasn’t a position he had ever thought one of his teammates would find him in. 

Nervously glancing up at Danny, Steve slowly crawled out from under the unicorn, brushing the dirt and grass off his shirt as he stood. “So…”

“Brah, that’s…is that really?” Chin set his helmet on the bike and rubbed his eyes, blinking rapidly several times as if that might change what he was seeing. “Brah, that’s a unicorn!”

“Yeah,” Steve rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah, it really is. Also, uh…I think it might be Danny.”

“What,” Chin squawked.

Steve tried not to be amused at how ruffled the normally Zen man was. “Can we go over this some other time? We have to figure out how to get Danny back to my place and how to keep him there.”

“Well, once Kono gets here the whole getting him there thing will go much easier.” Chin took a step closer to Danny, who took a deep breath before nudging gently at Chin shoulder with his nose. “I can’t believe that this is a real unicorn.”

Chin shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. Watching the unicorn carefully he reached out to gently stroke over its nose. “This is unbelievable, brah.”

“I know.” Steve smiled and shook his head. “I wonder what Kono will think of this?”

“Wonder what I’ll think of what,” Kono asked as she came up behind them. “Holy-“ 

Kono blinked and looked at her cousin and her boss, who were standing next to a white shimmery horse like animal with a very long spiral horn rising out of its forehead. “That’s a unicorn.”

“Yeah,” Steve smirked like a goof at her. 

“Then the little girl and her Mother were telling the truth,” Kono eep’d as the unicorn looked up at her, its blue eyes going wide as it saw her. In the single beat of her heart the animal had pushed passed Steve and Chin and knocked her to the ground, dropping its head into her lap. Letting out a very contented sound the stallion nudged a bit at her hand and looked up at her imploringly. Blushing Kono reached out to stroke the silky mane. 

“Its so soft,” she said with a voice full of wonder.

Steve smiled even wider to try and hide the jealousy burning in his gut. If the unicorn was Danny then he should know better than to cuddle with anyone but Steve. Steve didn’t share his lovers. He was far too much a “Neanderthal” as Danny called him, to share the person he loved with another. Even if that other person was Kono.

Chin glanced knowingly between Steve, Kono and the unicorn and tried not to sigh or laugh out loud. None of them would appreciate it. Well…Danny might. Speak of…”Steve, where is Danny? You said you found him when you called.”

“I did.” Steve nodded his head towards Kono and the unicorn.

“No…” Chin looked at the unicorn, his eyes widening. “That animal cannot be Danny.”

“Why not? He was pulled under in a pool that everyone says is the home of a mo’o wahine.”

“Steve, brah, that kind of stuff just doesn’t happen. They may pull a man under to drown but I’ve never heard of them turning a man into a unicorn. Plus, the unicorn is a haole myth, not something from Hawaiian mythology.”

“Yeah, but the islands are getting to be a bit more of a melting pot as more people from the various mainlands come here. Why couldn’t the mo’o wahine have chosen a haole spirit animal?”

“Cuz, let’s not argue about this now. We’ve got a unicorn sitting in my lap at the place that Danny disappeared.” Kono pushed a little at the unicorn, trying to sneak out from under his head. The unicorn made a frustrated noise and pushed more of his body over her lap, further pinning her to the ground. “Either way, can you guys please help me get up? He’s heavy!”

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Steve’s House, Oahu**

Getting Danny out of the horse trailer ended up being far easier than getting him in had been. Getting him in had taken almost an hour of pushing and pulling on him until they finally realized that if Kono just crawled inside he would happily follow her. Steve had not been pleased at that, but in the end whatever had worked, worked and he was glad to get out of the park before anyone came by for a night hike.

Getting Danny out of the trailer had taken nothing more than to open its doors. Once they were open, Danny had darted out and into the Steve’s waiting arms. Steve had cuddled Danny, stroking his nose to calm him down while Chin and Kono finished getting the straw laid down in the garage. It wasn’t ideal, but would have to do for now. Steve really hoped that it wouldn’t be needed for too long. He missed his partner and wanted Danny back as a human. They had hardly gotten to do more than acknowledge that they were attracted to each other before this all happened and he had been looking forward to getting a taste of Danny.

“We’ve got the garage set up best we can for now,” Chin said walking out towards Steve. 

“Good. I’m not real sure how long I can keep Danno here occupied enough not to wander off. ”You certainly are sure this is Danny.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure at first why I was so sure this was Danny, but I’ve been thinking it over. I think that unicorns may be telepathic because when it touched its horn to my bare skin it felt like I could hear him, in my head. I knew it was Danny.”

“Huh,” Chin gave the unicorn’s horn a thoughtful look before carefully placing his hand against it. Steve watched as Chin’s eyes glazed over momentarily and when he pulled his hand back he had a look on his face that Steve had never seen before. It went past the normal Zen he seemed to radiate, to a contentment that went soul deep. “He really is Danny.”

Steve smiled at the affectionate look Chin was now giving to there partner turned unicorn. “I was kinda surprised too and I think he still recognizes us, at least a little.”

“I got impression as well.”

Steve yelped as Danny lurched out from under his hands, running lightly over to where Kono was coming out of the garage. Kono gave another startled yelp as she was nearly bowled over by over excited unicorn. “We’ve really got to figure out why he keeps doing that to her.”

“Hey cuz,” Chin called out. “You a virgin?”

“What,” screamed Kono, her face going red. “You’ve gotta be kidding!”

“Well,” Steve smiled, teasingly. “Unicorns are supposed to go all funny around virgins right?”

“And you know this how,” snarked Kono.

“Wikipedia.” Steve grinned. “And Grace. Her favorite movie is The Last Unicorn. I think she’s had Danno and I watch it like a dozen times so far.”

“Speaking of,” interrupted Chin. “Isn’t Danny supposed to have her this weekend?”

“Shit,” cursed Steve, looking at Danny who was happily nibbling on some of Kono’s hair as she tried to twist away from him. “Yeah, he is.”

“What are you going to tell Rachel? Or have you told her?”

Steve glanced over at Chin, his lips pressed tightly together. “I haven’t told her anything. I didn’t want to worry her.”

Chin nodded and glanced behind him as Kono finally got away from Danny and darted behind Chin, pulling on him in order to keep him between her and Danny. “Well, if you aren’t planning to tell her anything you’ll have to come up with some excuse for why he won’t be there to pick up Grace.”

Steve pushed his hands through his hair and ignored Kono twisting between him and Chin, Danny still following her about like a love-sick puppy. “I know. I think I may just pick Grace up myself.”

“Are you sure that’s the best choice,” Chin asked worried.

“No but in all honesty I don’t think Rachel would buy me saying Danny can’t take Grace this weekend without saying his I the hospital or putting him on the line with her. And as magical as all that,” Steve waved his hands at Danny’s sparkly unicorn body, “is, I doubt he can speak English in that body.”

Steve let out a loud “oof!” as Kono pushed him into Danny as she made a break for her little red car. “He’s all yours! Call me when he’s human again.”

“Damn it, Kono! He’s not gonna hurt you,” Steve called out to her while trying to keep Danny from charging her car.

“Says you! Looks like my virtue is in danger here, so you boys keep him entertained. I’m gonna see if one of the Aunties knows anything that might change him back.” Rolling her window back up, Kono started her car and backed out of the drive.

Steve patted Danny’s head as the unicorn made a rather mournful noise at the loss of Kono. Steve was fairly sure now that their rookie really was a virgin. Which seemed odd considering Kono’s outgoing personality and general pervyness. 

“Well, this has been interesting,” Chin shook his head at Danny and Steve. Danny was leaning his head over Steve’s shoulder, making snuffling noises as he nuzzled Steve’s neck. “I think I’m gonna head out too. Can you handle this on your own?”

“We’ll be fine. I may need you to find some horse food. Grain or straw or whatever it is horses eat.”

Chin nodded. “I see what I can find.”

“Thanks, Chin.”

Chin slapped Steve’s shoulder and grinned at him again before turning back to where he had parked his bike. “I call you in the morning. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Steve stood out in his drive, Danny’s large head nuzzling at his neck as he watched Chin drive away. He and Danny were alone. That wasn’t anything unusual, they spent a lot of time together here alone, but Steve doubted very much that when he had asked Danny on that dreadful date that this was how he would get Danny back to his house afterwards. In his mind he would seduce Danny with his abs and the jut of his hips, which Cath always said was attractive enough to make a woman go stupid. He had hoped a bit of skinny dipping might happen and that it would lead to some outdoor sex which would lead to even more sex back at his place after. Instead he thought Danny had drowned, then thought it had all been a hallucination brought on by heat stroke, only to later realize that his partner was alive but had been turned into a unicorn.

This had easily been the weirdest week of his life. 

“Alright, Danno, let’s get you in the garage so that I can try and get some sleep.” Steve smiled sadly at the unicorn and tried to nudge the animal to follow him inside.

Getting Danny settled in the garage turned out to be easier than he thought now that Kono wasn’t there to distract him. And while Steve was pretty sure Danny didn’t like being locked in the garage, he really didn’t have a choice. There wasn’t anywhere else they could keep him and Steve wasn’t about to turn him over to the SPCA to hold until they could figure something better out. Turning in a horse would have been one thing, but Danny was very obviously not a horse and he didn’t want to risk any unscrupulous people getting a hold of him. Unicorn horn was considered a power medicine in many traditional Asian medicines. And Steve didn’t want to risk someone killing Danny just for the horn on his head. Of course keeping him close also meant that he didn’t have to worry about Danny running off to chase down bad guys like he had the other night.

Rubbing his palm over Danny’s head again, Steve leaned down to plant a quick kiss just below Danny’s horn, feeling its warmth pulse against his forehead. In the back of his mind he could feel Danny’s pleasure at being there with him, as well as the longing for the forest and the worry that he would be stuck forever like this.

Resting his forehead against Danny’s, Steve whispered, “No matter what I’ll find a way to fix this, Danno. I promise.”


	4. When The Last Moon is Cast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be warned there is more angst ahead. Because I seem unable to write anything that doesn't have a lot of that in the content. But on the upside the last chapter should be posted sometime tomorrow evening!

**Three Days Later, Steve’s House, Oahu**

“So,” started Steve. “You’re a virgin?”

“Oh my God! Really?” Kono turned from where she was coming out of the kitchen after finishing putting groceries into the cupboards.

“Yeah.” Steve grinned at her and took a long drink from his Longboard. “Danny seems mighty distracted whenever you get too close.”

“Maybe it’s just that I’m a girl, did you think of that? Just because a unicorn goes a little creepy goofy near me does not make me a virgin, McGarrett.”

“I don’t know. Wikipedia and the fairytale books I found in the attic all seemed pretty sure you had to be a virgin. Plus most of the girls he keeps breaking out of the garage to find are little girls and a few of the older ones even admitted that they were still virgins.”

“Shut up, Boss. Please. You are completely lolo!” Kono huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him.

Steve chuckled, amused despite the risk to his manhood should Kono really get pissed. “But, Kono, I’m having so much fun!” Steve tried using his puppy eyes on her as he would Danny. “You wouldn’t ruin my fun, would you?”

“Oh knock it off. Those eyes only work on Danny.” Kono smirked at the blush that pinked Steve’s cheeks.

“Maybe that is true but I still think you are a virgin which begs the question of why? You had that suffer guy, Ben, who was obviously into you. Then there is the guy from the lab, Charlie? And I’m sure there were even more begging for it when you were on the Pro circuit. So why is our little Kono still unicorn crack?”

Groaning Kono grabbed an apple from the counter at threw it at Steve, who laughing, caught it. “Thanks, I’m sure Danny will enjoy this little treat.”

“Just go flirt with your unicorn, McGarret, and leave us normal people to get ready for Grace.”

Still laughing Steve wandered away from Kono, pleased with the teasing. There wasn’t much to tease Kono about most of the time, as she was pretty good about keeping anything they might use against her under the radar. So finding out she may still be a virgin was going to fuel the teams teasing for weeks, maybe months, at least as long as they kept teasing Danny about being a unicorn, anyway. Of course Steve was sure Chin was pleased to know she was a virgin. Cousin or not he was mighty protective of her and Steve could understand and he was sure Danny did too. Both of them having sisters made them understand Chin’s need to reassure himself that Kono was safe and not getting into trouble. And boyfriends and potential pregnancies always counted as trouble. The only reason more of Mary’s boyfriends hadn’t been scared off was that she was still on the mainland and Steve just didn’t have time to fly over there every time she found a new guy.

Opening the door in the hall leading into the garage Steve stepped into the room that they had rushed to create for Danny. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it was all they had right now. The room was fairly dark, just a bit of sunlight coming in through the one small window. He hadn’t liked leaving Danny in the dark but the lights didn’t have a dimmer on them and candles were certainly out of the question. Fortunately for Danny, the neighbors next door were leaving to visit their daughter on the mainland in an hour, so it would be safe for Steve to let Danny out into the yard as long as one of them was around to make sure he didn’t run off again. Although he doubted Danny would since they would have both Kono and Grace here today to distract him.

From the gloom Steve could hear the soft chime of Danny’s cloven hooves in the cement and straw floor as the unicorn came closer to him. Even in the relative darkness he could still see Danny. He almost seemed to glow, especially when he passed through the beam of sunlight coming in through the window.

“Hey there, Danno.” 

Danny whickered a pleased greeting and pressed his head into Steve’s shoulder, glad to see the other man again.

Steve reached out to stroke his hand over Danny’s head and down his neck. Steve couldn’t get over how soft Danny’s coat was and it had left him wondering if his hair as a human was just as soft. Even before this he had often fantasized about running his fingers through Danny’s golden locks, tugging on them and curling strands around his fingers. Of course usual when he was fantasizing about that he was also fantasizing on the feel of Danny’s naked skin against his own and what kind of sounds Danny would make in the throws of passion. 

Last night he had woken up in a sweat, still trembling from the aftermath of an orgasm, the feel of Danny soft hair against his fingers still seeming far too real. At first he couldn’t remember the dream but when he finally did he couldn’t decide if it was the most erotic dream of his life or the most terrifying. It had started out like most of the others had, Danny and him kissing on the beach turning into sex on the beach as the sun set. But somewhere between the sex on the beach and waking up, Danny the human had turned into Danny the unicorn and that, honestly, had Steve a bit worried. He had never contemplated sex with animals before, had actually thought there must be something wrong with people who did, but here he was the morning after an erotic dream where the unicorn stallion Danny had fucked him into the ground.

Blushing hotly, he stopped petting Danny and went about checking over the makeshift barn. He could feel Danny’s eyes on him following him about the room as he looked to see what would need cleaning. He tried to push the memory of the dream out of his mind, focusing instead on the task at hand. Danny may be a unicorn and they may be “pretty” and “magical” and all that nonsense, but he still apparently had to crap like any other animal. 

Steve sighed, he should be grateful that enough of Danny’s human mind was there to make him pick one corner to void his bowls and bladder in. Steve would have hated coming in and stepping in any of that filth.

Scrunching his nose up at the smell, he turned to look at Danny who had walked up behind him again and was resting his head of Steve’s shoulder and look of obvious embarrassment on his little horse face as he noted what Steve had been looking at.

“Don’t worry about it, Danno. It’ll clean up.”

Danny closed his eyes and seemed to just be breathing Steve in for a moment before he turned his head and tried to kiss Steve’s cheek. Steve smiled again and reached one hand up to pat Danny on the cheek. “Chin went to pick up Grace. She’ll be here in about twenty minutes and I’ll explain to her what happened. Once the neighbors are one I’ll bring you out so she can meet you.”

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**The Edward’s House, Oahu**

Chin stood in the front hall of Danny’s ex’s mansion and couldn’t help but wonder how much standing here like this every other week, waiting to see his daughter hurt Danny. Chin felt almost worthless standing here surrounded by the opulence of the place. There was no way he could ever afford a place like this for Malia and him on a cops salary, even with the extra pay from working for Five-0. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must be on Danny, who used most of his savings to just follow them across the country, felt seeing this place and then comparing it to the crap-holes he could afford. Danny was a great guy, loyal, hard working and kind with the tenacity of a pissed off pit-bull. Chin hated thinking about how hard his life must be on him since the divorce. He couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt to have Malia divorce him and run off to the east cost. If they had a kid he was sure he would follow, but some part of him would shrivel up a die if he was forced to leave these islands and the rest of his family. 

“Detective Kelly.”

Chin glanced up to the stairwell where Rachel was coming down. “Mrs. Edwards.”

“I do hope everything is alright,” she replied in a worried tone. “I was expecting Daniel.”

“He’s alright, he just got pulled into an emergency meeting with Steve and the Governor.”

“Ah. Very well.” Rachel seemed to relax, her shoulder becoming less tense. “Grace shall be right down.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Edwards.”

“It’s quite alright. Would you like some tea? It won’t take long to brew and it always takes Grace longer than it should to pack.”

Chin smiled and followed her into the kitchen. “You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you. Would earl grey be alright?”

“That would be fine, thank you.” Chin sat down in one of the stools by the kitchen island. The place really was beautiful although it made him nervous. The kitchen and pantry had to the same size as Danny’s apartment. The cost of the marble countertops had to cost more than Danny’s rent as well. Shit

The tea was good. Perfectly brewed and the steam was heavy with the scent of the leaves. Chin let his eyes close as he savored the tea. The only kind he got most days was the instant blends in the break room, which were always too weak or far too strong. This was a pleasant change even if he had to sit here with Rachel Edwards in a home that was expensive enough to make his skin crawl. 

“Uncle Chin,” Grace cried out excitedly from behind him.

Chin turned around and slid out off the stool and down onto his knees, arms wide open as Grace came barreling into him. “Hey, Grace.”

“What’re you doing here, Uncle Chin?”

“I came to pick you. I’m gonna take you to Steve’s house and we’ll have some fun and maybe barbeque for dinner. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Grace smiled and hugged him tighter before stepping back to look at her mom.

“Are you all packed, Grace,” Rachel asked, gently brushing a stray lock of hair out of Grace’s face.

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Alright. You be good for Mr. Kelly and the others today, alright.”

Grace nodded excitedly and spun around to run back to where she had dropped her bag after she spotted Chin. Chin smiled at her, pleased as always that she seemed to so easily welcome all of Five-0 into her family. “We’ll take good care of her.”

Rachel looked at him and Chin was surprised at how easily she made him feel as if she could see into his soul. “I know.”

Chin nodded and carefully rested his hand on Grace’s head, ruffling her pigtails a bit as he followed her towards the front of the house. Grace was excitedly chatting about Mr. Hoppy’s latest adventure after he escaped from his rabbit house outside. She kept the conversation up the entire way and Chin couldn’t help but grin. Once she got comfortable around you she was just as animated a conversationalist as her Father. Hand gestures, loud voice and all.

Chin grinned to himself as he listened to her. “Why don’t we stop at Liliha’s and get some coco puffs. What do you think?”

“Yeah! Danno likes those.”

“That he does.” Chin smiled wider, his crinkling into halfmoons as they pulled to a stop outside the bakery. He wasn’t sure they sugary treats would be at all healthy for a unicorn but Danny loved them and if anything called for a situation of sugary support, this was it. Stepping out of the car, Chin walked around to the other side where Grace was getting out, and took her hand leading her into the building. 

Inside was as busy as normal but fortunately for them the girl behind the counter recognized him and just filled a box for them with Five-0’s normal order, without Chin having to wait in line. Some of the other customers of course looked pissed about that but when the girl told him to have good day and to say hello to Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams the angry glares subsided. Most of the customers were locals and knew the names and were calmed simply by that while the few customers who were obviously tourists, still had the disgruntled look.

Chin gave her a quick thanks when she put it on their tab and herded Grace back to the car. They were running behind schedule a bit but Chin was sure that Steve and Kono could handle Danny for an extra fifteen minutes. The unicorn had been pretty docile so far and despite Danny stabbing a man in the shoulder with his horn, and wouldn’t that be a story they were telling for years to come, he had been otherwise a very pleasant animal. Chin could actually say that he had never seen Danny quite this peaceful while he had been human. Maybe the whole thing would calm the normally rambunctious Jersey native down a bit after they found a way to change him back?

“Hey, Grace? There is something we should talk about before we get to Steve’s house, okay.”

Grace nodded, watching him with the serious little expression she always had when Danny or Steve had to tell her something.

Chin licked his lips and glanced over at her before turning back to face the road. “Your Dad, he’s gonna look a little different from the last time you saw him.”

“Was he shot,” she asked, her voice small and trembling.

“No, honey. Danny wasn’t shot. He’s not hurt at all. I promise. But I need you to promise not to tell anyone what you see once you get to Steve’s house. Alright?”

Grace nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Did he turn into a girl?”

Chin nearly chocked on his tongue, the car swerving a bit as he twisted to look at Grace. “What?”

“Tommy’s Dad decided he wanted to be a girl and now Tommy has to call him Mommy.”

“No. No, Danny is still your Daddy.”

“Okay, then. So did he and Uncle Steve get married?”

This time Chin realized he was going to have to pull over lest he run them off the road. He wasn’t sure where Grace was getting all these ideas, but he was sure it wasn’t all from this Tommy boy. Too many people around the island thought Danny and Steve were “partners,” so it more likely she heard some other adult comment on it. Maybe even Rachel and Stan. He had heard Rachel over the phone with Danny teasing him about Steve being his husband.

“Did they get married? ‘Cause if they haven’t yet I wanna be the flower girl and wear a pretty dress!”

“No, they haven’t gotten married.” Chin swallowed and tried not to laugh as he talked. “But I’m sure when they do they’ll pick you as their flower girl.”

“Okay.” Pleased Grace went back to looking out the window at the ocean beyond the glass. 

“Grace, do you know a lot about unicorns?”

An excited smile spread across Grace’s face and before Chin knew it she was off again telling him about all her favorite unicorn stories and the stuffed unicorn that her Auntie Kate had made for her one Christmas. Chin could only smile because there was no way he was going to be able to get a word in about her Father turning into a unicorn at this rate. She was just so much like Danny.

They were just pulling onto the road leading up to Steve’s house when Chin’s cell rang. A quick glance at it showed that it was Kono. Hitting the accept button and quickly switching it to speaker phone he asked, “Kono? What’s up?”

**“Danno’s wandered off again. Steve and I are trying to track him. We think he’s headed towards Diamond Head.”**

“Diamond Head? Why would he go there?”

**“There’s a surfing contest to help raise money for sick kids. We think all the little kids in one place…you know.”**

“Yeah, okay. You two get him. Grace and I are just about at the house. We’ve got some coco puffs and masaladas.”

Chin smirked at the sound of his cousin’s pleased sigh. **“Great. I’m gonna need it. Boss man’s using me as unicorn bait again.”**

“Be careful, cuz.”

**“You got it.”**

The call cut off as Chin pulled up the drive leading to Steve’s front door. Grace was watching him again with a confused and worried look, that made Chin cringe a little inside. He had scared her a bit, mentioning her Father just wandering off. That was very out of character for Danny and it was obvious his little girl knew it. 

“Why don’t we go inside while we wait for them to come back and I’ll tell you all about how your Father met an island spirit.”

Grace gave him another look he had seen on Danny’s face before, skepticism. This was going to be a hard sell without the living proof to back up the story. 

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Somewhere Near Diamond Head, Oahu**

“This better work boss man, ‘cause I’m not doing this again,” Kono growled. They had been tracking Danny for almost half an hour now and Kono was more than a little pissed off at having to do this again. She hoped they sorted this mess out soon because she didn’t want to remain a virgin forever just so they had someone to lure their unicorn out with. Being the official unicorn bait for Five-0 was completely lame. She finally had a good boyfriend and she was hoping to loose her virginity relatively soon because she was tired of surfing, school, work and now a unicorn partner keeping her from getting a little action when they rest of the team seemed to find the time to bump uglies with random women. It was not fair at all.

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere, Kono.”

“Whatever, Boss man. Let’s find him so that we can get him back to his daughter. I’m sure Chin and Grace are back –“ Kono cut off as they heard an excited whinny from behind some of the bushes.

A moment later they had an excited unicorn stallion prancing about around Kono, nuzzling her before darting off to nuzzle Steve. Kono thought it was cute, really that even as a unicorn Danny was obviously still attacked to Steve, even if he did keep coming back to cuddle with her. Hopefully once this had been resolved and Danny was human again, the two would get their act together and actually admit they had the hots for each other.

“You remember, Grace.” Kono smiled as Danny gave another happy sounding whinny. “Alright, then lets hurry this along.” Kono rolled her eyes and sighed as Danny shoved his head against her chest, again. She stroked his mane and looked over at Steve. “Can we go now? Please?”

“Yeah,” Steve smiled wide and goofy at her. Still Kono could see the shadow of jealousy in his eyes as he watched her and Danny.

Rolling her eyes Kono led Danny back to the horse trailer and Steve’s truck. It was much easier to get Danny in and out of the trailer now that they knew to have Kono go in first. Of course having to do this four or five times now also made it easier. Stepping out of the trailer, Kono quickly shut the door to it before Danny could turn around and follow her out. She could hear him inside making that sad unicorn sound he made every time she left. But he would calm down quick enough, as usual. Especially once he had a new virgin to focus on, one who was also his daughter.

Hoping into the cab beside Steve, Kono immediately grabbed the cell to give Chin a call and let him know they were on the way back. It was obvious from the sound of his voice over the phone that he was glade to hear that. Kono shared an amused look with Steve. She could only imagine what Grace was getting her cousin to do. Chin was just as tightly wrapped around Grace’s finger as Steve and Danny were. That girl was gonna be epic when she got older, Kono was sure of it. She would just have to give Grace all the training she could to make sure Grace could defend herself for the less desirables. Of course, knowing the rest of the team, the guys probably already had there own self defense training plans for her.

“I’ll bet ya’ twenty that Grace has him playing Dolphin Trainer Annie.” Kono smirked at Steve.

“Fine, I’ll take that. Twenty says that she has him swimming.”

“Deal.” 

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet for them both. Steve had turned the radio onto some god awful 70’s rock station, which Kono had protested. Not that that had made a difference. Kono had grumbled for a bit before just giving it up as a lost cause and switched to messing with Danny’s cell phone, which Steve had in his glove compartment for some reason. She had taken great delight in changing all the ring tones one by one to something new. She thought they would be fitting and amusing, especially the ringtone for Steve which was changed to “Drive My Car” by The Beatles. She had then changed the standard ringtone to “The Last Unicorn” and hoped that she could call Danny where she could see his reaction when the song started playing.

When they pulled into the drive a couple minutes later, Kono shot Steve a look. She was confident that she would be right about Grace and Chin playing with dolls. Steve shook his head, a grin spread across his face. Kono could tell he was sure he was going to win the bet. Both though were sure they’d be amused by whatever they found. Reaching into her pocket, Kono pulled out her cell phone and turned on its video camera. 

Steve nodded, one finger raised in front of his lips for silence and went to the back to unload Danny. The three of them tried to sneak around back as quietly as possible, hoping to surprise Grace with the sight of a real unicorn. Kono had the camera ready to capture the first meeting between the little girl and Five-0’s “unofficial” mascot. 

As they rounded the side of the house Steve had to suppress a laugh as he realized that Kono and he were both right. Grace did have Chin playing with Dolphin Trainer Annie, but they were also swimming. Smirking he looked at Kono, who had already raised her phone to record her cousin and Grace playing dolls in the water behind the house. Behind him Steve could feel the Danny press against his back, trying to push him out of the way now that the unicorn had a clear line of sight to his daughter.

“All right, go then.” Steve smiled a goofy lopsided grin and pressed himself against the wall of the house so that Danny could dash past him.

Steve smiled as Grace looked up at the sound of Danny’s excited whinny, her eyes going wide and her mouth parting in an “o” or surprise. Chin was smiling beside her, as the unicorn pranced at the edge of the water for a moment before tossing his head and charging into the water to Grace. Grace let out a squeel of delight and reached up to pet the top of Danny’s head, her fingers just brush the base of the horn. As they did Steve saw a look of understanding pass over her face and knew that like the rest of them she had felt Danny’s thoughts, knew that the unicorn she was touching was her Danno.

“Well, what do you think, Grace-face? Is this a good make over for, Danno,” Steve teased as he and Kono walked from where they had been hiding along the side of the house.

“It really is Danno,” she asked, her voice sounding rather small and timid.

Steve walked into the water and brushed his fingers over her cheek, smiling as gently as he could. “It is. But he won’t stay this way forever. We’re working on getting your Danno back to the way he should normally look.”

Grace nodded and let her eyes drift back to the unicorn she was still petting, who had a blessed out look on his face. “He’s all sparkly.”

Steve hadn’t been able to stop the laughter that burst out of him at that. He had caught an angry rant about sparkling like one of those terrible Twilight vampires before as he stroke Danny’s head, fingers brushing the long horn rising from his partners forehead. Danny had been so pissed off about even the thought of being compared to, in his mind, the worst characters from the world’s worst novel series. Steve hadn’t understood it, as he was not a teenaged girl, and had resorted to asking Kono and his sister Mary, who both agreed with Danny that the series was bad enough to make your brain bleed out your ears if you read more than one page of it.

Still, Steve enjoyed teasing Danny about how he sparkled in the moonlight or in the daylight as well, although he did not sparkle as brightly in the day. “Why don’t you come out of the water and you can brush his hair? I bet Kono can help you find some ribbons or something?”

“Okay!” Grace handed her doll off to Chin, who was watching amusedly from beside her, and talk out of the water to where Kono was standing beside Steve. 

Danny trotted out of the water behind her, continually leaning his head down to nibble at her pigtails. Grace giggled again and tugged one of her pigtails out of his mouth. “Bad, Danno. Don’t eat my hair or I’ll tell Mommy.”

Danny made what sounded almost like a whine and reached out to nuzzle her cheek with the soft skin of his nose and lips. Seeing her laughing again and swept back in to tug gently at her pigtails, starting the whole thing over again. Kono smiled and handed her phone off to Steve with a whispered comment to make sure to record all the good stuff.

The rest of the days passed almost too quickly for Steve. It felt nice having all of his Ohana at his home, laughing and playing about on the beach while he cooked up some food. Chin had taken over camera duty, this time with an actual video camera, and was currently recording Kono and Grace’s latest attempt to braid ribbons into Danny’s mane and tail. They had tried to use a curling iron Mary had left on her last visit around lunch time, but Danno hadn’t seemed too keen on that. In the end they had used their virgin charms on him to subdue him long enough to curl his mane. Steve had caught that incident on camera as well as the aftermath where Danno had woken up, realized he had been tricked and immediately went to roll around in the ocean to try and rid himself of the curls.

The sight of a large sparkly unicorn on it’s back rolling around in the waves had been enough to make him fall down laughing, mostly because he was trying very hard not to think about what a naked human Danny would have looked like doing that. 

Shaking his head and sharing a look with Chin, Steve dished up some hamburgers onto a plate beside some mac salad and jello. Picking up the two plates he carried them off the lanai and walked over to Kono and Grace, interrupting their fun.

“Hey, girls, time to stop for a bite to eat.”

“What about Danno,” asked Grace. 

“Don’t worry, Gracie. I’ll get him some oats and apple slices that he can munch on.” Steve smiled and handed the plate over to Grace who happily took a large bite out of the hamburger.

“Thanks, Uncle Steve!”

“Not, bad, Brah.” Kono scooped up some of the mac salad and piled it onto her burger. “This looks pretty good.”

“Thanks. I have to keep you girls fed and happy, don’t I.”

“Yep,” Grace chimed in as Kono smirked.

“Lookin’ mighty fine there, Danno.” Steve smirked at the disgruntled look Danny shot him before turning his back to Steve and leaning lightly against his daughter’s side. 

“He does, doesn’t he? Grace is pretty good with those ribbons. I’m thinking,” Kono shared an evil look with Steve, “that Danny deserves his own Facebook page. Unicorn Danno on Facebook.”

Danny made a strange noise that Steve couldn’t quite place and struggled to his feet. For a moment Steve was sure that Danny might charge Kono. But Danny just glared and walked off to stand by Chin, nibbling at his dark curls. Kono chuckled and took her cell phone back from Steve, showing Grace some pictures they had take two days prior when Danny had gotten lose and wandered all the way to the ‘Iolani Palace, where they had found him munching on some flowers, with a lei around his neck as a family of tourists took pictures with him. That had been an interesting day for Five-0 and Steve had not enjoyed explaining to the Governor that the second in command of her task force had been cursed by a being from Hawaiian mythology to turn into a unicorn for an unknown length of time.

Grace seemed to have loved the photos Kono had collected and had spent nearly ten minutes begging her to make copies for her so that she could send them to her cousin in New Jersey and to show the girls at school that she had met a real unicorn. Kono had of course agreed easily as she knew just how much that would embarrass Danny. Kono wouldn’t be mean about it, but it was obvious that she was going to have as much fun as possible with the whole incident. 

A few hours later and Kono and Chin had headed home and Steve had gone inside with Grace to watch Finding Nemo. Danny was still outside munching on some plants and Steve knew he would have to get up soon to take him inside to prevent yet another unplanned excursion on Danny’s part. It was just so comfortable cuddle up under a blanket with Grace curled into his side. He didn’t want to get up and ruin this moment. 

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

It had become dark out by the time Danny had finished eating his fill of the flowers and grasses in Steve’s yard. He had realized quickly that Steve and Grace had gone inside and were likely asleep and Danny couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that Steve hadn’t come out to put him to bed in the garage as he had the last few nights. He had enjoyed the closeness and sense of affection that had come with Steve brushing him down and tossing one of his old Navy blankets over him. Danny had loved having the scent of Steve lingering all over him while he was stuck in the garage. Now he had been left outside on his own and Danny couldn’t help but feel a little sad. He was sure that Steve hadn’t meant to forget him, had probably fallen into an exhausted slumber watching a movie with Grace since Danny wasn’t in there to remind them both to head to bed when they started to nod off. Still it hurt and Danny had never felt as alone as he did in that moment. 

Taking one last glance at the house he had turned and walked out of the yard and back to the street. Without Steve or his scent around the call of the forest was too strong to ignore any longer. He had to leave, to go back to the forest and to the spring of the mo’o wahine. He couldn’t stay here any longer pretending that things might work out, that he might just wake up one day and be human again. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the instincts o f the unicorn he had become and every day was a struggle to remember who he really was. Who he had been and who he had wanted to become.

The walk back to the Park took hours and Danny was thankful that all the houses he passed were dark, their owners fast asleep. There was no one awake to distract him, the road belonged to him and the night birds that followed him as he passed their trees. He passed a wild boar and her babies, who stopped searching at the ground for food and looked up to watch him walk passed. He had never really seen a wild boar before but some how it wasn’t that spectacular. It was just another animal watching him. He doubted he would ever be as impressed by an animal as he used to be after having been turned into a unicorn. But he could be wrong.

“Welcome back, kaina.”

Danny blinked at the sound of that familiar voice. He hadn’t even realized that he had reached the Park, let alone the spring. “Yeah…”

“You are unhappy, kaina?”

“You think? Yeah I’m unhappy.” Danny scowled as best he could as the water spirit through a face not designed for such an emotion. “I’m stuck in this body, as a damned animal! I want to be human again!”

The mo’o wahine rose a little higher out of the water, her head cocked to one side as she watched him. “You are sure?”

“I can’t take living like this. I would rather die than be stuck like this. I can’t take not being able to hold my little girl, or being able to read her a bedtime story, or to hold hands with the man I love. I can’t…” Danny felt his head drop as the weight of it all pressed down on him.

“Poor child, little kaina.” Danny kept his eyes closed as he felt the cool watery hands of the mo’o wahine caress his cheeks. “Such pain. Let me take it from you.”

Not having the strength to fight Danny let her guide him into the water, deeper and deeper until the water rose over his head and filled his nostrils. 

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Steve’s House, Oahu**

Steve didn’t know what woke him up, but he woke up and knew something was very, very wrong. Looking down at Grace who was still cuddled into his chest, Steve noted the TV was still on the repeat cycle for the DVD they had been watching and out the window the sky was dark. Night had long since fallen. Everything should be fine, but still that ach in his chest pressed in on him, telling him that he was wrong. Something bad was happening or was going to happen. 

Carefully scooting out from under Grace, he gently lowered her down onto the cousin he had been sitting on and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. Walking towards the door as quietly as possible he looked out into his yard, searching for anything that might have triggered this feeling of doom. There was nothing. The night was still and fairly quiet save for the sound of the waves lapping at the beach. It was a peaceful, quiet night. Too quiet.

Suddenly anxious Steve opened the door and stepped out onto the lanai. Danny. Where was Danny? He wasn’t outside? Had he remembered to put Danny into the garage? Steve couldn’t remember.

Quickly going back inside, he closed the door and locked it, quietly passing Grace who was still fast asleep on the couch, and made his way to the garage. Easing the garage door open, Steve stepped into the dark room, immediately worried by the lack of white shimmer that came from Danny hide. 

He wasn’t here. Danny was gone!

Fumbling for the cell phone in his cargo pockets, Steve speed dialed Chin. The phone rang for what felt like forever and Steve couldn’t stop pacing the confines of the room.

 **“Steve,”** came the sleep heavy voice over the line.

“Danny’s gone.”

 **“What?”** Steve felt his breathing spike before he could get it back under control. Over the line he could hear the sound of Chin moving around on his bed. **“Steve, what’s going on?”**

“Grace and I watched a movie and we must have fallen asleep. I woke up and Danny was gone.”

 **“Someone broke into the garage,”** asked Chin in a worried voice.

“No. I forgot to lead him back to the garage.” Steve pressed one hand against his forehead. “I need to find him.”

**“Okay, calm down. I’ll call Kono to come watch Grace and you and I can head to HQ and try out the tracking system I set up.”**

“Tracking system,” Steve asked confused.

**“Yeah. He kept wandering off so I set up a small GPS tracker that I gave to Kono. She wove it into his mane today before we left. Unless he decided to roll in the waves again it should be online.”**

“…You put a tracker on Danny?”

Chin sighed and Steve could hear him set the phone down before more sound of rustling fabric could be heard. A moment later he had picked up the phone again, **“I’m hanging up now Steve. Call Kono to meet at your place and I’ll head over to HQ. Meet me there with the trailer and we’ll go get Danny.”**

Twenty minutes later Kono was pulling up to the house as he finished getting the trailer reattached to his truck. Kono waved at him as she hoped out of her car. “He did a runner again?”

“Yeah. Chin and I are gonna get him, so I need you to stay with Grace. She’s knocked out on the couch. If you can get her moved to the bed in Mary’s old room. It should have her pajamas in there already.”

“Can do, boss. Go bring Danny home.” Kono gave him a smile and patted his shoulder before walking inside.

Steve looked away and finished locking on the trailer. Standing he dusted his hands off against his cargos and moved to get in the cab of his truck. He backs out of the drive and heads to the ‘Iolani Palace on autopilot, his mind a thousands miles away. He’s been getting more and more worried about how Danny seemed to be acting more and more like an animal and less like the man he knew. He was starting to have nightmares about Danny never changing back, or hunters killing him before Steve can find him again after one of his walkabouts. It scares him how much Danny can make him feel. How vulnerable Danny makes him.

The shrill sound of his cell going off is shocking in the silence of the truck. Blinding reaching for it he answers, expecting it to be Kono or Chin and not at all surprised when it is Chin. “You’ve got something?”

“Yeah. The tracker shows him at Waihee Valley National Park. One guess as to where in the park.”

“Shit!” Steve jerks the wheel turning down a different street at the last minute heading away from Chin and the Palace.

“I’ll meet you there. Don’t kill yourself before we get to Danny.” Chin clicks the phone off and Steve knows the older man is already running out of the office and to his motorcycle. The Gods only know what Danny is doing at the park and Steve can’t help the shiver as a cold feeling of dread clenches around his heart.

The park when he finally gets there is full of the normal night noises he remembered from times long past where his dad and him would spends weekends out camping and hiking. They were good memories, some of the few he had left of his dad. But right now they were swamped under the fear that was filling him. He didn’t know why Danny had left, if he had finally lost the last of his human mind, or if he had just become so depressed that he fled from the people he loved, or if…No, Steve wouldn’t think of the other option. The option that woke him at night in a cold sweat, his heart near pounding out of his chest.

Thrusting the door open he near fell out in his rush to find Danny, not even thinking to close the door as he ran into the park. Distantly he was aware of the sound of Chin’s bike coming to a stop in the parking lot behind him. He could hear Chin tossing his helmet aside, the sharp sound of it striking the metal of the bike and rolling across the gravel even as Chin’s boots thunked heavy behind Steve’s own. They were running in blind and if Danny had been there at his side where he was supposed to be he would be berating Steve for not taking precaution. They didn’t know what was waiting up at the spring. It could be anything from a hunter, a lost child to a pissed of mo’o wahine waiting to drown them all.

“Almost there. Almost there. Wait for me, Danny.” His breath hurt as he pushed himself to run faster and further than was probably safe, but he had to get there. He had to find Danny and get him safely back in his arms, even if he could only hold him as an animal.

Ahead of them the sound of the waterfall could be heard, slowly getting louder until Steve thought it would deafen him. Gasping, his legs shaking Steve stumbled to a stop at the waters edge. Almost the same spot he had been in when Danny had been pulled under near three weeks ago. Their sudden entrance startled a flock of birds that let out a wild racket of noise as they flew off further into the park. The edges of his vision blackened and for a moment he thought he might pass out, his heart felt as if it was beating like hummingbird wings in his chest.

The water in front of him was still and smooth as glass. Danny wasn’t there.

A keening cry slipping passed his lips, Steve felt his legs give out. Chin was gasping for breath beside him, staring into the dark of the lake a lost look on his face. They were too late.


	5. Hear The Laughter Of The Last Unicorn

**Waihee Valley National Park, Oahu**

Steve wasn’t sure how long the two of them had been sitting there at the edge of the spring, just watching and hoping for a sign. However long it was, it was long enough for the speed of his heart to slow back into something resembling a normal range. He knew they had to get up to see if maybe the tracks in the dirt leading into the water came out elsewhere. He wanted to believe Danny was alive.

“Brah, maybe we should think about getting up,” Chin’s words were soft as if he couldn’t bring himself to speak any louder than a whisper. As if the sound of his own voice might bring about something worse than what they were both already thinking.

“I can’t. Not yet.” Steve closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath.

“Okay.” Chin placed his hand on Steve’s shoulder and just sat there at his side, letting the warmth of his body warm the edges of Steve’s own.

The night passed quietly for them, sitting there watching the water. Around 2am the water began to stir. At first Steve thought it was just the breeze but quickly he realized that the water was stirring from below. Jerking slightly in Chin’s grasp, Steve leaned forward trying to get a better look. A large bubble of air rose from the depths to pop on the surface of the water, sending ripples across the surface. A moment later several more large bubbles popped and suddenly Steve could see something rising just under the surface, pale beneath the dark water. As it got close to the surface Steve realized that it was glowing, slightly under the light of the moon, sparkling almost as Danny’s body had.

“Danny,” Steve’s voice felt weak, almost fragile as he watched the back of the body break the surface.

It was smooth and too small for a unicorn, but just right for a human of Danny’s size. Crying out Danny’s name he was barely aware of Chin tossing his shoes aside and running into the water. His eyes were locked on the figure floating in the water. 

Chin’s body cut through the water with a sure confidence that only someone born and raise on the water had. He reached out, wrapping his arms around the body floating in the spring, lifting it up out of the water. Steve could feel every atom of his being focused on the two figures floating there, waiting to see the face that Chin’s body was currently blocking his view of. 

Jumping to his feet, Steve moved closer to the water as Chin swam back towards the shore, the other person securely held against his chest. When it became obvious they were close enough to shore that Chin would need to stand, Steve waded in, not caring that he was ruining his boots.

The figure was naked and far too pale, white as the unicorn had been but still recognizable. “Danny,” Steve whispered.

Chin and Steve carefully lifted Danny out of the water, pausing when his head tipped back. His hair was longer than it had been, curler and a paler shade of blond as well, but it was the longer, pointed ears and the small spiral horn on his forehead that drew the most attention. It looked like although the mo’o wahine had changed him back he was no longer fully human.

“Well, shit. This is gonna be hard to hide,” muttered Chin.

“We can worry about that later.” Steve leaned over Danny, listening for any breath or heartbeat. Some sign that he was still alive. When Steve felt a small puff of warm air against his air he felt the pressure in his chest ease. “He’s still breathing.”

“Good. Think we should take him to a hospital?”

“And explain the horn how, exactly?”

Chin seemed to think it over for a moment before sighing. “I suppose you’re right. Alright. Let’s see about getting him to the car and we can take him back to your place.”

Steve nodded, looking back down at Danny who seemed to be peacefully sleeping. Brushing a curling lock of hair away from Danny’s face, Steve let himself relax. Putting his down so that he could watch Danny for a moment longer, he was startled to feel fabric beneath his fingers. Glancing down he realized he had pressed his hand down into a pile of Danny’s missing clothes. 

“What the- Where did those come from?”

“Huh.” Chin looked just as confused. “Those weren’t there a moment ago.”

Ignoring the strangeness of the clothes appearing from nowhere the two did their best to get Danny dressed. A feat not as easy as it seemed when you realized that even though small, Danny was very sturdy of build, making it awkward to do when he was limp as an over cooked noodle. Eventually they managed to get Danny into the pants and tee-shirt and carefully lifted him again. The truck and Chin’s bike weren’t too far of a walk down the trail, but it was sure too feel like it would take too long to get there.

Still, as heavy as Danny was, they were careful of him. He was their friend, their partner and a member of their ohana.

Turned away from the spring to head down the trail neither man noticed the way the water bubbled behind them, a figure rising out of the water. The figure watched them walk away, a mischievous smile on her face.

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

**Steve’s House, Oahu**

Kono wasn’t sure how long the guys would be gone looking for Danny, so after checking to make sure Grace was still asleep she decided to put her plan into action. After Steve had had to explain all about Danny being a unicorn they had tried to think of ways to cover it up. But after more than a dozen curious inquiries were called in to the HPD and the Governor’s office about the unicorn sighting the Governor had called Steve back and told him they were going to have to come up with a plan to either squash the rumors or work with them. After a couple hours of the Governor and Steve not getting anywhere, Kono had suggested they had a Hawaii Unicorn Facebook page and set it up like a promotional theme to try and get more tourists to the island. They could even have unicorn hikes and get people to be Fans of the page so they could post their own photos and experiences. If they set it up this way no one would think that there was a real unicorn on the island.

The Governor had liked the idea and so Kono had agreed to set up the page and the Governor’s staff could do any other promotional ideas to spread the word. Kono had planned to set it up tomorrow, but since she was up now and had access to all the video and pictures files taken yesterday she might as well do it. As long as she made sure none of the shots gave away they were taken here it should fine.

She cold put up one of Danny eating some of the pulmeria flowers, or the one where Grace had braided some yellow ilima into his tail after they had braided the ribbons into his mane. Or she could use the one of Danny nibbling on one of her ponytails while she laughed or the one where Steve had fallen asleep half onto of Danny while the sun was setting behind them. Or maybe the one of Danny surrounded by all the surfer girls from one of his walkabouts. Or one of the pictures of Danny sparkling under the moonlight? Yeah, those were probably a good start.

Smirking Kono went to work building the page and typing up the content that the Governor’s aid and she had worked out earlier in the day. It took longer than she thought it would at first as she sized and cropped some of the photos and pulled out stills from the videos they had taken today with Grace. By the time she had finally finished it all Steve and Chin were walking into the house, an unconscious Danny in their arms.

“Is that…He’s human,” Kono said surprised. 

“Yeah.” Chin sounded out of breath. “We found him face down in the spring at Waihee Valley.”

Kono whistled and put the laptop down before getting up to help them lay Danny down on the couch. “Is that a-“

“Yeah. He has a horn.” Steve glared at Kono, who only raised a brow and smirked at his possessiveness. 

“Hey Steve.”

“What, Kono?”

“You’ve got a jungle growing in your backyard.”

“What?” Steve looked up at Kono from where he was covering Danny with a blanket.

“The planets that had the unicorn pop spread over them as fertilizer…they’ve grown wild. It seriously looks like a jungle out there.”

“Okay, I’ll deal with that later.” Steve waved off the new information and went back to watching Danny sleep. “Is Grace still asleep?”

“Yeah. She’s fast asleep upstairs.”

“Good.” Steve finally looked away from Danny and back up to Chin and Kono. “You two can crash here if you want?”

“Nah, brah. I’m cool.” Kono waved it off. “Can we get an extra day off though?”

“Yeah, consider tomorrow an official day off.”

Smiling the two waved and left, trying not to wake either Danny or Grace on their way out. Even though they were as silent as possible Steve sill noticed Danny’s eyes flutter open as the door closed behind them.

“Hey, Danno,” Steve’s voice was filled was too many emotions for him to name but chief among them were relief and joy.

“Steve,” Danny’s voice was soft with just a hint of a hoarse quality.

Smiling Steve leaned down and kissed Danny’s forehead. “I’m glad to have you back. You had me so worried, partner.”

“Back?” Blinking Danny reached up towards Steve, his hand freezing halfway. His eyes widened as he stared at his hand. “Human?”

“You’re human again, Danno. You’re back,” Steve’s voice broke and for a moment Steve was sure the tears he had been suppressing all night were finally going to fall. Before he could second guess himself he leaned down and placed a long gentle kiss on Danny’s lips. Steve let himself sink into the kiss, to the feel of Danny’s lips pressed against his own, the light brush of a tongue against his bottom lip and a strong hand reaching up to slide through his short hair. It was a perfect moment.

Smiling he rested his forehead against Danny’s and just breathed the man in. “You want to go upstairs?”

“Yeah, babe.” Danny smiled at him and let Steve help him up.

 

\- - - H50 - - -

 

Danny didn’t know at first what woke him, so he lay there in bed listening to the sound of the waves outside and the creek of the wood of house. It seemed quiet. Rolling over Danny looked to the side and noticed Steve wasn’t in bed. Perhaps he had woke up and went to the bathroom? Rolling over onto his belly Danny tried to go back to sleep only to blink awake again as he heard a loud thunk from downstairs.

“Steve,” Danny called out.

There was no answer but Danny could hear the sounds of what sounded like multiple people moving around downstairs. Getting up Danny looked to see if Steve had left his gun near by, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to be in any of the drawers of the bed side tables. Cursing Danny crept towards the door. He had already called out for Steve so whoever was down there must know someone else was in the house, but they wouldn’t know that he wasn’t armed. Looking around the room for something he could use as a weapon, Danny cursed when the only thing he could find was an old SLR camera. 

With no other option, Danny grabbed the camera. He could use the flash to blind and disorient them. 

Slowly opening the bedroom door, Danny crept towards the stairs, taking them slowly to try and avoid the few that creaked when pressure was placed on them. As he got to the ground floor he heard the sound of movement from the back, near the door to the lanai. Keeping close to the wall he moved closer pausing when a large shadow moved along the wall through the open doorway to the living room.

Raising the camera Danny moved into the open space, looking into the room. He could hear movement outside the door now as well. Mentally growling he spun and took several photos as he caught sight of movement, the bright light of the flash almost blinding him as well. 

A loud panicked whinny caused him to lower the camera and freeze in place as the echoes of light blinked in front of his eyes. A moment later Danny could see again and was startled to find a large white unicorn stallion standing in Steve’s living room, looking just as confused as Danny felt.

“No,” Danny shook his head. It couldn’t possibly be what he thought. “Steve?”

The unicorn nodded its head excitedly and whinnied loudly. Before Danny could say anything else another loud whinny came from out on the lanai. Turning towards the door Danny felt his mouth drop open. Standing by the door to the lanai was a large black unicorn with a sprinkling of silvery white spots on its rump, scattered through its black hide like stars in the night sky. 

“Oh God. Another one.”

Danny glanced back at the Steve unicorn then to the black unicorn. Licking his lips Danny set the camera down and reached for the phone dialing Kono’s number.

 **“Wha’s it,”** asked a sleepy voice.

“Kono. Its Danny.”

 **“Danny,”** asked the confused voice. **“What’s going on? Go back to sleep, brah.”**

“I would but there are two unicorns standing in Steve’s house with me.”

For a moment the line was silent and then Kono’s voice came through loud enough that Danny had to pull the phone away from his ear. **“What?”**

“Yeah…I think its Steve and Chin.”

**“Man…are you sure.”**

“As I can be.”

Kono sighed. **“Okay, I’ll be right there.”** Danny smirked as he heard Kono muttering to herself before the line went dead. **“We better be getting over time and hazard pay for this.”**

“Amen, sister.” Danny smirked at the two glaring unicorns.

 

The End


End file.
